Where Did Knitting Come From?

Where did knitting come from?  That is a great question, but unfortunately one without a crystal clear answer.  Unlike other skills that have been around since ancient times, like weaving, knitting is a relative newcomer.  Terms related to knitting, like knit, were not even in use in the English language until the 1400’s.   Also there is a lack of physical evidence of knitting because the fabrics decompose very rapidly, and the knitting sticks are hard to distinguish from other instruments.  No real remnants of early knitting remains, however the small bits that do are hard to distinguish from those of another old skill called Nalbinding. 

The oldest surviving knitted items are some cotton socks found in Egypt, dating to around 1000 A.D.  They contain Arabic symbols and blessings.  These socks, due to their intricacy, lead researchers to believe that knitting is an old craft, since the socks showed signs of being well made.  Knitting then showed up in Europe around 1275, in Spain.  Since Spain was a primarily Arabic nation during the time the knitting was similar to that found in Egypt two centuries prior.  Cotton was the chief fabric used in this knitting, since it was abundant in the area between Spain and Egypt.  When it spread to the northern, colder parts of Europe, like England, wool came into use, since it is a more durable and warm fabric.

A rather large gap in the history of knitting occurs between the time it arrived in Spain and when it got to Europe.  Sometime during the 14^th century knitting traveled to Italy, but in an entirely different form.  Paintings began appearing called “Knitting Madonnas”, and they would feature the Virgin Mary in some scenic locale knitting.  This demonstrated that the community had such an understanding of knitting that artists could paint someone doing it. 

In the 1500’s a major new advancement came to the world of knitting, the purl stitch.  This allowed a new refinement to knitted garments, which made them even more popular among the upper class of society.  The popularity of knit garments was shared by all people, even royalty, with some kings of the time owning ridiculous numbers of knit items.  (The photo below is of some mens stockings made for an upper class person during the 1500's)

Some garments during this time were made with small slivers of metal in them, which was quite uncomfortable for the knitters, and unfortunate for the owners since the metal would tarnish in just a few years.  Since knitting was becoming extremely popular during this time period, an entire industry began to pop up in Europe.  An English hat knitting guild was established in 1424 to help meet the great demand.

Since this time knitting has become a popular way to make clothes and other goods, as well as a wonderful leisure activity.  It is enjoyed by people around the world, and almost everyone owns something that was made from knitting, whether it be machine or handmade.  The facts mentioned in this post came from  a post on Knitty.com.

Knitty History Link

Knittinghelp.com: A Fantastic Website for all Knitters

Regardless of whether you are a novice to knitting, or you have been doing it your entire life, Knittinghelp.com is a great website for you.  It has step by step instructions for basic knitting steps like casting on, as well as instruction videos.  This website is great because it helps you decide what you want to do for a first project (A scarf is recommended).  Then it helps you choose the needles and yarn that will best fit your needs.  It is full of helpful tips, such as looking on the packaging of your yarn to see which size needle is recommended.  There is so much information of this site that you cannot leave it without having learned something.  There are sections of the different styles of knitting, Continental and English, the different patterns, which needles go with which fabrics, and so on.

This website is also a fun place for knitter around the world to get together on the website’s forum.  Topics include: General Knitting, How-To Questions, Charity Knitting, and many others.  In addition to the forum, there is a shop, with many knitting related items like needle kits, DVDs and books.  There is also a section dedicated to patterns, a glossary and a section called the Stash which has links to other nifty websites.  

Knitting Help Link

About.com: Great Knitting Projects

I stumbled across this page on About.com that listed numerous neat projects for a wide variety of experience levels and interests.  Projects ranged from scarves and roses for St. Patrick's Day, to knitted hearts and wristbands for Valentine's Day and even legwarmers for those wanting to bring back the 80's styles.

About.com Projects Page

Hipster Knitting- A Website Worth Checking Out!

There are thousands of neat websites on the internet, but not as many of them deal specifically with knitting.  One exception I found to this conundrum was a blog at Squidoo.com called Hipster Knitting.  This blog features so many neat links and stories about really cool knitting projects, such as a knitted Mohawk.  The topics on this website range from just fun, wacky craft projects to heartwarming ones like making dolls for children with AIDS. 

This is a great website for knitters of all skill levels to look at because the projects range from novice to expert levels.  There are links to other websites with step by step instructions which will help guide you through each project.  Besides the projects, there are links to websites like Amazon, which have all kinds of instructional books and videos about knitting and related topics.

This blog was very well organized, with everything easy to read and laid out in a neat pattern.  The content was well written, with no noticeable grammatical errors, or spelling mistakes.  This blog is also great for families looking for a project to do together, since there was no objectionable content or inappropriateness whatsoever.    The link opens in a new window is provided below:

Hipster Knitting Link

My First Encounter With Knitting

To be honest, I was really excited about learning how to knit.   I love clothes so I figured making my own would be pretty fun.  When I first began however, my enthusiasm was quickly replaced with frustration.  (The photo to the left was taken as I was well into my scarf and knitting had become fun.)  I started off with not being able to do the first step, which is making a slip knot.  However I had a friend who was able to do it for me and I was back on track.  I picked up on casting on pretty quickly, or so I thought.  I finished the process only to find out I had done it wrong, so I wound up with double stitches.

I wasn’t going to let that get me down though.  I unraveled everything I had done so far and tried it again, with the correct technique this time.  Now the hard part came, actually knitting.  I grabbed my other needle and dove in head first.  I caught on to it faster then I thought I would, but just as I began to get into it, class was over and I had to go home.

It was a Friday and I had big plans with my friends to go to the movies and hang out.  It was going to be a lot of fun, however that was about to change.  My friend sent me a text message saying something had come up and she couldn’t make it tonight.  I thought “oh well just one friend, at least my other buddy can still go”.  I was wrong.  He called me and said he forgot he already had a prior engagement tonight, so he apologized and said next time he’d come.  That left me with nothing to do on a Friday night.  I couldn’t go to the movies by myself, people would think I was a loser, and all my other friends were busy.  I had an idea.  I drove to Wal-Mart and headed directly to the crafts section.  I got some funny looks as I carefully paced the aisle trying to decide which color yarn to get.  I walked confidently through the store and up to the cashier, who took my items and seemed to carefully inspect each one.  I paid her no attention and paid and left.  I got back home and started my big Friday night plan.

Luckily I had worked out the errors in my technique at school that day, so I was able to start correctly.  Before I knew it I had twenty five stitches and I was ready to knit.  After several rows I began to get into the rhythm and I was able to occasionally glance at the television and watch the shows.  I soon had figured out some little tricks, like holding the yarn in my left hand, and keeping slack on the yarn, so that I could work even faster.  Pretty soon there was a sizable piece of knitted yarn in my hands.  I was excited.  As of now I am still working on my scarf, it is about one third of the length I want it to be, and I has a few mistakes in it, but for a first project I am happy with it. (My scarf so far!)

This process of learning to knit has had its ups and downs, but I have had so much fun learning to do it.  When, in the beginning, I made mistakes like accidentally making double stitches and letting the stitch slip off, it was indescribably frustrating.  I wanted to throw my needles across the room and quit, but I am very glad that I stuck with it.  Now, thanks to hours of practice I can carry on a conversation and watch some television while knitting, and I almost never make mistakes anymore, although I will occasionally miss a stitch or something like that.  Overall it has been a very fun and enlightening process.

Besides just being fun, knitting has also taught me a lot of valuable things.  I have found a whole new respect for people who make their own clothes.  It is a very time consuming process and you have to be truly dedicated to it, or else you will get nowhere.  I have come to also appreciate all the modern technology that we have, because I could not imagine having to actually sit down and make all of your clothes.  If that were the case I would wear a potato sack or something because knitting is a arduous process.  Besides the obvious things like learning how difficult knitting is, I have also learned how fun it can be too.  It is a great way to pass time, without just mindlessly staring at a TV or computer.  It is a useful craft to have and it is a great way to keep your hand nimble and your mind sharp, since you have to watch everything you do.  So thanks Mrs. Washburn!